Poori masala recipe | Potato masala for poori - Raks Kitchen (2024)

Poori masala recipe easy yet the perfect choice for poori, made for each other. With step by step pictures of preparation. So simple yet perfect with poori and even dosa.

A perfect match for poori, you can prepare for breakfast or even brunch.

Check out my Poori recipe to see how to make perfect ones to go with this. Do check out my mix veg saagu recipe.

I never thought I should post this potato masala (poori kizhangu) for poori in my blog.

But I realized people google specifically from my blog using my blog name.

Thought I should post this soon and 2 weeks back, I made this for a weekend breakfast.

So that it can be useful for people who are new to cooking, bachelors and those who want to learn some basic south Indian breakfast recipes.

I hope newly married and who are interested in cooking and in a learning process may find this helpful.

I make this when I am lazy to make potato kurma / cauliflower kurma or mixed vegetable kurma for puri as my kid likes only kurma for puri.

Even this poori kizhangu, he just calls as yellow kurma.

Variations

I make this aloo masala with few variations and this is so versatile and use this as guidance you can make a lot of variations too according to your taste.

• Add crushed garlic in place of ginger.
• Temper with cinnamon stick and use ginger garlic paste while frying onion and add ¼ cup ground coconut and 3 cashews towards end to make it thick and rich.
• Add more vegetables like green peas and beans along with carrot.
• In case it turns spicy, after switching off, you can add a teaspoon of lemon juice to balance.
• Kids friendly : Grind ginger and green chilli and add to the boiling masala, so that they won't get to bite ginger or chilli.

Taste & Texture

This recipe is so simple without any strong masalas and packed with south Indian flavours.

Do not underestimate the side dish. Just make sure to add salt and green chillies to balance the taste.

This is very popular in Tamil nadu restaurants and households. In fact, we always make this at home.

This is pucca our homestyle, you can make more masala based using the variations I have mentioned.

How should be the texture?

It can be made thick or gravy type. Have you ever tasted poori masala from the famous restaurant Mathura at Chennai Mount road? Once my FIL took me there and told how good it will be. It was thick and so different like he told.

But usually other restaurants and at home, it is thick gravy type.

It should not be watery, that is if you keep in the plate, it should not leave water on either side.

So make sure to thicken it. Here are several ways to thicken:

• Mash some potato itself so that it thickens the masala.
• Add a teaspoon of corn flour (corn starch) dissolved in a tablespoon of water and add to the boiling poori masala.
• Dissolve a teaspoon of kadalaimavu/ gram flour/ besan in a tablespoon of water and add it.

Just make sure not to go overboard as it will make taste bland.

Recipe card

Poori masala instructions

1. Wash and cut potatoes firstly into 4 and pressure cook for 3 whistles with little water. After that, cool down, peel and keep it roughly mashed. Don't mash completely, just break into pieces roughly. Then, heat kadai with oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table.
   
2. After that, add green chillies, ginger, thinly sliced onion (lengthwise) and fry until transparent. Take care not to burn it or change its colour. Just let it turn transparent. Then add carrots and fry for a minute in medium flame.
   
3. Add 3 cups water, turmeric, salt and sugar. Bring to boil. After that, add the mashed potatoes. You can mash one or two pieces completely to make the masala thick as it boils.

4. Continue to boil for 10 minutes in medium flame or until the masala gets thick in consistency.

You can add corn flour dissolved in 2 tablespoon of water towards end to make the masala look hom*ogeneously thick.

Serve this masala with poori, or even with chapathi or rava idli too. Use the left over masala for making masala dosa.

Instant pot version

Stepwise images coming up soon!

I recently made this in Instant pot and thought of updating here. For this method, I used same amount of finely chopped garlic along with ginger.

In addition to carrot, I added ¼ cup peas and 2 tablespoon chopped capsicum.

Also, I added ½ teaspoon sambar powder, ¼ teaspoon Garam masala for a mild twist.

For this method, we need not cook potato separately but together. So let's see hot to make potato masala for poori in Instant pot.

1. Firstly, gather all ingredients needed, ready. Peel potatoes and cut into 4 or 8.
2. Start the instant pot in Saute mode (More) for 15 minutes.
3. Add oil to the inner pot. Once the display indicates HOT, add mustard, let it start to splutter.
4. After that, add urad dal, chana dal followed by curry leaves, ginger, green chilli and onion.
5. Then add carrot, peas if adding and saute until the onion turns soft. Do not let change colour much. Adding a pinch of salt soften the onion fast.
6. Now add potatoes, turmeric, salt and water enough to immerse all potatoes. Mix well.
7. Cancel saute and close the lid.
8. Pressure cook for 5 minutes, Normal, High pressure.
9. Once done, let the pressure release naturally or 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, release the pressure if any and open the lid.
10. Mash some 4-5 pieces of potato against the wall of the inner pot using a ladle. This helps the masala thicken.
11. You can also choose to add corn flour like in the above recipe.
12. Again start the instant pot in Saute mode for 5 minutes.
13. Let the masala boil until timer is up. Make sure to stir in between to avoid burnt warning.
14. I garnished with some virgin coconut oil, fresh curry leaves, coriander leaves.
15. As it cools, it thickens a bit.